To Be Human (SYOC)
by Snow Bender
Summary: In this post-apocalyptic world, animals are banned, and most are killed; including a specific species of shapeshifter known as a therianthrope - a person that can turn into an animal. We will follow the lives of a group of shapeshifters as they fight for life in this harsh world, in the hope that they will one day find a place they can belong. (open to humans, minor, villains.)
1. Chapter I

_June 22nd, 2312  
9:00 am_

* * *

The classroom was packed full of eager college students, excitedly chattering among themselves as they waited for class to begin. Normally, biology would be half-full at best, considering the fact that one could only look at bones, blood, and plant matter for so long without wanting to pull their hair out. However, it seemed that today was going to be much more interesting. The professor had sent out an e-mail the night prior that they would have a real, live animal to examine and learn about; something of which had not happened at the university in more than twenty-three years. The fluorescent lights cast a sickening whitish-green shade onto all of their faces.

"Good morning, everyone." The statement came from the front of the room, where a man in a labcoat had entered. He was tall, professional-looking. Certainly not the professor. "I apologize, but I will be taking the place of your professor today. My name is Dr. Price, and I am from Westmore Center of Anthropology, Mythology, and Zoology. Now," he began, "for safety precautions, I must ask that you all vacate the front two rows of seats and find a seat toward the back of the classroom. As you are all well aware, it is highly illegal to handle an animal unless you are a registered zoologist. I must advise that you never, ever approach any sort of animal in your day to day life. If you do happen to encounter an animal, call animal control right away, and that animal will be dealt with accordingly."

Dr. Price's statements were met with obedience and complacent head nodding.

"While we wait for the... animal... to arrive, I have a set of questions that I'd like to ask you. Routine, run-of-the-mill stuff, really," Dr. Price stated, picking up a piece of paper from the table behind him. "First, what year did President Ephraim pass the Animal Restriction Act, or the ARA, for short?"

Nearly every hand in the classroom shot up.

Price called on one, an overweight boy with a mop of shaggy, brown hair. "Um, that would be the year 2234, sir."

"That is correct. Now, would anyone like to explain to the class what the Animal Restriction Act meant for our society?" Dr. Price continued.

This time, a tiny girl of Asian descent spoke up. "The Act meant that the government would be able to control all animal population, that the average citizen would not be able to own any type of animal as a pet or food source, and that all animals aside from birds, insects, arachnids, and fish would be terminated from the wild."

Dr. Price nodded, a small smile on his thin lips. "That is also correct. Who can tell me why the ARA came to be in the first place?"

"Well, sir, overpopulation had a large part to play in it, but the government was also concerned with the safety of the people, maintaining healthier ecosystems; that sort of thing," replied one older woman in the group; she looked older than most of the people in the room.

"Good, good. However, those are not the only problems the government was addressing in the matter. Now, I know this is a bit taboo, but I got the go-ahead from the director of the college to bring up the subject." Dr. Price leaned back on the desk behind him. "What can you all tell me about therianthropes?"

The class was silent for a few moments, before a blond boy raised his hand near the front of the room. "Therianthropes are, um, a subspecies of homosapien that possess a certain strand of DNA labeled as the A Gene. The possession of the A Gene enables the therianthrope to change its physical form into that of another mammal. For example, it would be like me changing into a cat, or an elephant, depending on the variation of A Gene that I had in me."

Dr. Price clapped his hands, grinning. "Yes, that was very well-said. Therianthropes, sometimes incorrectly labeled skinwalkers or shapeshifters, were not discovered until the year 2228, just a few years before the Animal Restriction Act was put in place. They were a large reason for the Animal Restriction Act, actually. The government was worried for the safety of its people, and since there was no real, humane way to test and see if someone was a therianthrope, the government decided that it would be safer to simply remove all other mammals from the equation altogether." He cleared his throat. "Though, of course, overpopulation and convenience played a role in it, as well. The Animal Restriction Act was crucial for our survival as the human race. Today, however, I will be teaching you about therianthropes."

The door opened at the front of the room once more, and two police officers in full gear strode in, carrying a large, metal cage between them. Inside, there was a relatively small canine-looking creature with pale, orange-tan fur, crouched near the back and growling at the men carrying it.

"This may look like a simple dog, students, but it is nothing of the sort," Dr. Price stated as the policemen placed the cage on the desk at the front of the classroom. "This is a therianthrope in its animal form. I know you may not be aware of this specific creature, as it has never been native to America, so allow me to tell you what this animal is. We believe this to be a dingo, a specie of wild dog native to the continent of Australia."

A hand shot up in the middle of the classroom. Dr. Price nodded to the student, allowing him to speak. "Sir, how do you know that this is a therianthrope and not just a... a dingo?"

"I was hoping someone might ask that. Allow me to demonstrate." Dr. Price pulled a thin rod from the inside of his labcoat and strode over to the cage. "I will be using a small amount of electricity to encourage the therianthrope to assume human form. The current from the cattle prod will provoke the creature's cells to transform."

Without further warning, Dr. Price shoved the prod into the cage and jammed it into the dingo's flank.

The creature yelped and instantly, so quickly that it could not be seen by the human eye, morphed. In its place sat a young girl who looked no older than sixteen, or possibly seventeen. Her honey brown eyes were narrowed hatefully at the man who had electrocuted her.

"Screw you!" she snarled, getting her feet underneath her and moving into a crouched position, her muscles coiled tightly and twitching a bit from the electrical current that she'd just been assaulted with. "That hurt!"

The class collectively gasped, as though they hadn't expected her to be able to speak.

Dr. Price chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, it can mimic human speech. But this is not a human, my friends. This is, in fact, a therianthrope. Now, many of you probably think that my method of getting it to transform was inhumane-"

"Because it was, you douche," the therianthrope interrupted viciously. If looks could kill, Dr. Price would be a dead man.

"-but therianthropes, like animals, have no actual sentience," Dr. Price continued, completely ignoring the girl in the cage. "They are like plant life, or perhaps an insect. They've developed, over many millions of years of evolution, the ability to trick us into believing that they possess consciousness. You must realize that they are not on the same level as we humans. Now," he continued, "you may notice that this therianthrope's human form carries the colors of its animal form. Please note the orange-tinted hair, the amber eyes, and the light skin. This is very common among the therianthrope species, though there are a few documented deviations from that pattern."

The girl in the cage flinched back when Dr. Price gestured toward her with the prod. "If you touch me with that again, I will rip your freaking throat out," she warned, her voice trembling a bit at the end of her threat to betray her fear.

"So violent," Dr. Price teased, knocking the prod against the metal bars of the cage. "This is why therianthropes, and other animals, are not allowed to live side-by-side with human beings."

One student raised her hand, and Dr. Price nodded for her to speak. "Where did you find this subject?"

"That is a good question. We discovered this therianthrope here in Seattle about three weeks ago. She's young, approximately sixteen years old. Therianthropes can live as long as a human being in captivity," Dr. Price explained, and the therianthrope in the cage interrupted once more.

"We can live that long outside of captivity if you humans wouldn't kill us first," she grumbled, her lip curling when Dr. Price looked back to make eye contact with her.

"You are part of an innately violent species and cannot exist alongside the human race."

The girl's shoulders rose defensively. "Says the guy who advocates the genocide of entire specie."

Dr. Price took a deep, steadying breath, and turned away from her. "As you can see, class, the therianthrope species has evolved to perfectly mimic the human race in this specific form." He cleared his throat. "This therianthrope is very young, as opposed to most of our other subjects. She's still just a puppy, really - shouldn't even be separated from her pack. And, yes, therianthropes take on some specific personality traits of their animal form. Since this one is a dingo, she likely has pack mentality, which is why it was odd that she was alone when we found her."

"I wonder why," the therianthrope deadpanned, and was ignored completely.

"I would like to give one of you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Dr. Price announced, waving one arm in a sweeping motion toward the class. "Which of you would like to pet this therianthrope?"

His question was met with silence, until one bold student - a girl with dark brown hair - raised her hand.

Dr. Price smiled warmly at her. "Come up to the front of the class, please," he invited, reaching into his pocket to pull out a leather-and-metal contraption as he turned to look at the therianthrope. "Would you like to transform on your own, or do I have to encourage you again?"

The therianthrope's eyes widened and she morphed immediately back into a small, orange-and-tan dog.

"Good girl. Now, I will put a muzzle on her to prevent a bite, should she get aggressive," he announced, unlocking the cage and reaching in. The therianthrope recoiled slightly, but ultimately obeyed and allowed herself to be muzzled. "This muzzle is equipped with metal spikes on the back that go right at the base of the skull, which prevent her from transforming back into her human form."

The brunette student had reached the front of the classroom by that point, fidgeting nervously with her hands as she waited for Dr. Price's instructions.

"Am I correct to assume you have never handled an animal before?" Dr. Price's question was met with a shake of the student's head. "I must inform you that, if this situation were unsupervised, this would be highly illegal. Please never approach any animal you may find in the wild or in captivity, unless you are instructed to do so. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," she responded, ducking her head.

"What is your name, miss?" Dr. Price asked as he lightly tugged on the muzzle's strap to guide the therianthrope to the front of the cage. The creature was trembling, her tail tucked, eyes wide, and ears pressed flat to her skull.

"Jovie Miller, sir."

Dr. Price smiled at her. "What a lovely name. Now, Miss Miller, please step forward and place your hand on the therianthrope's fur. Don't worry; this is perfectly safe."

Jovie stepped forward and stretched out a hand toward the small therianthrope, who shook harder and tried to edge backward. Dr. Price kept a firm hand on her muzzle, keeping her stationary and allowing Jovie's hand to make contact with the pale orange fur on the therianthrope's shoulder.

Jovie moved her hand back and forth against the fur, and a small smile formed on her lips. "She's soft, and very warm," she commented, then jerked her hand back when the therianthrope's tail untucked and started to wag hesitantly. "It moved! What does that mean?" she demanded, looking up at Dr. Price.

"It's a form of body language; it is an involuntary response. Don't worry," Dr. Price replied, and Jovie nodded. "Would you like to continue petting the therianthrope, or are you finished?"

"I believe I'm done, thank you," the brunette smiled, before turning to head back to her seat.

Dr. Price turned back to the cage and pushed the therianthrope back inside without removing the muzzle. He closed and locked the cage back tightly, and gestured for the two policemen to take the creature out of the classroom. They obeyed, and Dr. Price placed his attention on the students.

"Now, does anyone have any questions?"

* * *

 **[(** To Be Human **)]**

* * *

 _ **Setting**_

Set in the year 2312, in an apocalyptic version of the United States, animals are restricted. The only ones found in the wild are birds, fish, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. However, since the world is getting progressively colder, most of the latter three have died off.

In this world, there are creatures known as Therianthropes - a human with the ability to transform into one specific type of animal. Therianthropes were hunted to near-extinction, and are continually hunted and experimented to date.

This story will follow a group of therianthropes as they fight for life in this unforgiving world, in the hopes to find a place where they can belong.

* * *

 **[(** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 **An -** _Hello, everybody! This SYOC is kind of a shot in the dark, since I'm not exactly sure how this will be received by all of you. I'm really gonna try with it, though!  
_

 _The dingo-therianthrope in the chapter above is an OC of mine, who will be appearing again next chapter. Her name is Casey._

 _Of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to PM me! I'll answer those questions to the best of my ability._

 ** _Rules_**

 ** _1)_** _ **One character per person** , at the beginning. I'm not sure how many characters I'm going to get for this story, so let's start out slow.  
_

 ** _2) Pm me the form._** _It will be on my profile, ready to go. Fill it out completely, and please put in detail so that I can portray your character as well as I can. c:_

 ** _3) Reviews._** _You do not have to review every chapter, but please try to be active with reviewing. It makes it so much more fun to write if the readers are willing to contribute as well. Also, please review the first chapter of this story, just to let me know that you are going to submit. That's literally all you have to say; it does not have to be a full-fledged review._

 ** _4)_** **_Characters._** _I need about eight or nine characters for the main cast, give or take, and I'd like to have a pretty good variety of animals and personalities, so try and come up with something new and interesting._

 ** _5) Communication._** _You must be willing to communicate with me as the story goes on, especially if your character is in the main cast. I'll need to know your ideas, thoughts, etc._

 ** _6) Ideas._** _You are always allowed to pm me and tell me any ideas you have at absolutely any part of the story! I can't guarantee I'll use them, but I may!_

 ** _7) Bad guys._** _You're allowed to send in bad characters. Pm me beforehand, though!_

 ** _8) Humans._** _You're allowed to send in humans. Pm me beforehand, though!_

 ** _9) Have fun._** _I intend for this story to be fun for all. Please enjoy yourselves and be kind to one another!_

 _The next chapter will be a character list of sorts, and the chapter afterward will get back to the story._

 _God bless you!_

 _Love,_

 _Snowy_


	2. Chapter II

_June 22, 2312  
10:08am  
Casey_

* * *

Casey was fighting against whimpering as the police left her in the back of a van, still muzzled and caged. She wasn't sure how long she would have to wait, in the cold and dark, for Price to get ready to go, but she did know that the van wouldn't leave without him.

The whole experience in the college had been more than humiliating, but that wasn't really the problem that Casey was focused on. What she was more interested in was figuring out how to get out of that stupid dog crate – she did not want to go back to the lab. Casey wasn't the bravest person alive, anyway - the entire time she'd been snarling at Price, she'd been shaking with fear. She was doing so now, thinking about that cursed lab. Three weeks of cruelty, cages, and complete terror had been far more than enough for her; she wanted nothing more than to go hide out in the forest and never come back out.

That, however, was something that would never happen if she couldn't transform back into her human form. Which, of course, was an impossibility, because of the metal spikes from the muzzle digging into the base of her skull every single time she tried to morph back. It sucked, but she could see no real way to get out of the situation.

She had only been pondering ways to escape for around three or four minutes before the door to the back of the van creaked open and Casey leaped out of her fur.

"Hey, hey, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," a young, female voice assured. A very familiar young, female voice. Casey looked up to find that it was the girl from before - the one who volunteered to pet her in class. She was quite brave, Casey mused.

 _Jovie, was it?_

Casey found herself trying to talk to the brunette, only to remember that the stupid muzzle was still trapping her mouth shut. Oh, and that she was currently in the form of a dog and couldn't communicate with humans verbally.

She settled for wagging her tail in an attempt to be friendly, as she had done earlier. Still, she couldn't shake the trill of fear that always seemed to tighten her chest whenever she was in the presence of a human. She didn't consider herself particularly afraid of humans, but what with everything going on in the world these days, a little fear was probably rather healthy. It would simply be stupid to be totally comfortable with them.

But there was no reason to be mean to one who had shown her no reason to be afraid.

Jovie knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "I think I read in a book once that when a dog wags their tail like that, they're being nice. I'm going to take it as a sign you're not going to rip me to pieces." She reached out and pulled a bobby pin from her pocket before sliding into the back of the van and finding the electronic lock on Casey's cage. She fiddled around with the card slider, punched in a few numbers, and prodded a few places with the bobby pin. "There are perks to being an electrical engineering major," she grunted as she worked.

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, the electronic lock beeped and the door to Casey's cage clicked open. Jovie grinned and sat back as Casey nudged it open further, still not convinced that this was actually happening.

The human hopped out of the back of the van and checked both ways before looking back at Casey. "Coast's clear. You better get out of here before those cops come back."

 _This_ is _really happening._

Casey hopped off the back of the van and onto the snow, shaking her fur out. She glanced up at Jovie and wagged her tail harder, hoping to convey how grateful she was feeling without words. It worked better than she thought it would.

"No problem," Jovie replied with a grin, then frowned when she realized Casey was still muzzled. "I forgot about that damn thing. I don't have anything to cut it off of you, so I guess you'll have to deal with it on your own. Do you think you'll be okay?" she asked, looing genuinely concerned for Casey's wellbeing. This human might as well have been an angel.

The therianthrope nodded her head and wagged her tail once more. Jovie grinned again and waved goodbye, and the two turned in opposite directions - Jovie toward the college to get back to class, and Casey toward the nearest alleyway to find cover...

And then to get out of this freaking nightmare of a city.

* * *

 **([** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 _ **Q & A**_

 _I've received a lot of good questions from you guys, and I wanted to answer them here so that everyone can have the answer if they need it!_

 **Q.** Can my character turn into an animal that is not a mammal?  
 **A.** _No, because of the harsh environment and specific situations they'll have to go through, mammals would work best. Also, humans are mammals, so I think it would probably be easier for them to become something in that family rather than a bird or a gecko, don't you?_

 **Q.** How in depth are we allowed to go lore-wise? Can we create characters with animals designed via genetic experimentation? Can we say that there has been a special super-soldier program that our character has broken out of? I don't mean those examples specifically, but instead I mean them as in how far are we allowed to shape your world to design our characters? When is it too far?  
 **A.** _This was a specific question, so I copied and pasted it. Therianthropes are not a product of scientific mutation, but rather of natural selection and evolution, in this story, so there would be no real "super soldier program."_

 **Q.** Can I create the main bad guy?  
 **A.** _I have the main bad guy planned, but you can make other bad guys that can have sections of the storyline based on them. We'd just have to discuss it first._

 **Q.** Is there an age range for the characters?  
 **A.** _Nope. Just keep it reasonable – someone too young or too old wouldn't be able to survive this world, so try to steer clear of both extremes. Somewhere in the middle would be great._

 **Q.** How far has technology advanced in this story?  
 **A.** _Tech has advanced, but sources are limited and the world is falling apart, so a lot of it is redundant. Cars are still on the ground, cell phones are still handheld, there is no virtual reality world to escape into. Holograms and projected-touchscreens and stuff like that exist, though._

 **Q.** What about bionic tech?  
 **A.** _Bionic tech is usually reserved for fairly rich people, as upkeep is necessary and doctors are highly expensive. But, yes, they've advanced very much in that field._

 **Q.** What kind of world are the characters living in? How are international relations?  
 **A.** _The world is in a sort of new "ice age," as they've labeled it. Because of this "ice age" that has fallen upon the earth, most of the time, international relations are essentially nonexistent. Food - meats, vegetables, fruits - are manufactured in laboratories. Cows, chickens, etc. are bred and slaughtered without ever seeing the light of day. There are only around 4.5 billion people left in the world, as it is getting harder and harder to survive, and all economy has essentially collapsed, but America is just going on like nothing is really happening. War between countries is pointless when each country is too worried about their own problems to stick their noses into other people's business._

 **Q.** Around what time was the first Therianthrope discovered? Did they exist before they were discovered? Can you tell if a person is a Therianthrope in any way other than having them turn (IE, is the A gene visible in Human form)? Assuming Therianthropes were an existing thing before the ARA, were they legal until that act passed? What percentage of the population is Therianthrope?  
 **A.** _The date Therianthropes were discovered is in the first chapter of the story, and yes, they existed beforehand. The A Gene is visible in blood tests, but it is very hard to find. The public appearance of the Therianthrope was actually a huge part of the ARA. It is estimated that Therianthropes make up less 0.001 percent of all human population, though before the ARA, they made up nearly two percent._

 **Q.** Have any other evolutions occurred, or is it just the A Gene?  
 **A.** _No other evolutions are known at this time._

 **Q.** Do the parents have to be therianthropes to have a therianthrope child?  
 **A.** _Not necessarily. The A Gene can skip generations. It must be present in either the grandparents, both parents, or one parent for the child to be a therianthrope._

* * *

 **([** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 ** _An -_ **_Hi, guys! I wasn't going to post this little interaction between Jovie and Casey until next chapter, but I decided to post it with the Q and A._

 _Don't ask why. I don't know._

 _It's a very short little chapter in comparison to my last one, and the future one will be longer than this one, for sure. This was just very important information that will play a huge role later on in the near future._

 _I have received several amazing characters, but I'm not accepting characters just yet. I have a couple that I'm strongly considering, and one or two that I can say will likely make it into the story, but I'm not making any final decisions until I get more forms sent in._

 _If you have a question that isn't answered above or in the chapter previous to this one, let me know! I'll do my best to answer._

 _I also have a **Pinterest** page for this story up. I'll be doing a board for each individual character and for the story as a whole. You can find it at pinter est snowbende r18/_

 _Go look it up!_

 _Thank you all for such a huge interest in this story. I'm actually blown away, and I can't wait to get more of your characters._

 _God bless you guys!_

 _Love,_

 _Snowy_


	3. Character List

**_Characters_**

 **Casey Byrne** _\- Sixteen - Female - Dingo -_ _ **Snow Bender**_  
 _Personality Traits: friendly, excitable, social, protective, loyal, genuine, driven, clumsy, awkward, fearful, anxious. Just an excited puppy, really._

 **Quentin Croft** _\- Seventeen - Male - Jaguar -_ ** _Bambooozled  
_** _Personality Traits: proud, guarded, cold at first, intelligent, sarcastic and manipulative._

 **Natalia Santangelo** _\- Nineteen - Female - Italian Wolf -_ ** _TheNightGirl  
_** _Personality Traits: stubborn, loyal, compassionate, hot-headed, intelligent, vengeful._

 **Felix Killian** _\- Seventeen - Male - White Bengal Tiger -_ _ **W. R. Winters  
**_ _Personality Traits: stubborn, hard-working, affectionate and protective of those he cares about._

 **Adrian Friede** \- _Nineteen - Male - Arctic Wolf - **SPaladin**_  
 _Personality Traits: Quiet yet polite. He'll talk if you want him to, and join in a conversation, but shy away when not talked to._

 **Bruno West Jr.** _\- Twenty-One - Male - Bison - **tobi-is-an-artist-too  
** Personality Traits: calm, friendly, protective, kind._

 **Aza Zuri** \- _Twenty-One - Female - Deer -_ ** _Daisy-is-Lazy  
_** _Personality Traits: strong, independent, intelligent, social, quiet, observant, logical, persuasive._

 **Kaisu Suka** _\- Fifteen - Male - Black Fox -_ ** _TheSilentBlackBird  
_** _Personality Traits: introverted, private, manipulative, sarcastic, cynical._

 **Gwenevere Monroe** _\- Nineteen - Female - Snow Leopard -_ ** _felinefairy100  
_** _Personality Traits: secluded, alert, discreet, a little awkward around people, doesn't trust easily, perceptive, stubborn, creative._

 **Nevada Wilder** _\- Sixteen - Female - Pronghorn - **RainIsMyMusic  
**_ _Personality Traits: quiet, jumpy, fearful, avoids problems, childlike._

* * *

 _ **An -** Okay, there's a few of the cast members for you guys! I'm trying to wait for others, but if I feel like someone fits into the story, I'm going to accept them. _

_This is only the main cast, by the way. I won't be showing villains or minor characters here._

 _If you submitted and do not see your character here, please pm me, and we can work out a way for your character to fit into the story. I plan on making several of them minor characters. c:_

 _For those of you that have a character here, you can start filling out the "what they think of the other characters" part of the form, if you want. It'd be easier for me if you did! c: I've also got Pinterest boards set up for your characters, if they're up here, so go check 'em out!_

 _God bless you guys!_

 _Love,_

 _Snowy_


	4. Chapter III

_June 22nd, 2312_  
 _10:14am_  
 _Adrian_

* * *

Math was a bore, but then again, so were most things in college. But that was exactly what Adrian wanted - a boring, normal life with nothing exciting going on whatsoever. For a therianthrope who wanted to pass as a human, normalcy and a completely mundane life were imperative. Adrian had grown up that way; it was really all he'd ever known. So, sitting in this stuffy classroom in Seattle's college with about one hundred other students was just an average day for him.

Or, it was, under normal circumstances. There was something off about this day, however. After they'd brought that other therianthrope girl in for the biology class to look at - who Adrian felt bad for, though there was nothing really that he could do for her - he had headed for his math class. Which would have been normal, if not for the empty seat beside him.

Jovie was about two, maybe three, years older than Adrian - she was a senior. They'd become hesitant friends during the spring semester, and occasionally even went out for coffee together. It was quite a rare occurrence for Adrian to actually go somewhere with someone else, these days, but he was actually perfectly content to do so with Jovie. She was an odd woman, but an interesting one, and she never seemed to mind that Adrian was often so quiet. He'd thought that she might have had a crush on him for a while, before learning that she was asexual.

 _"I'm not interested in your dangly bits,"_ had been her uninterested words.

Yes, Jovie was a talker, and Adrian was perfectly content to just sit there and enjoy the conversation. She actually usually talked through the entirety of math class.

But she was late.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem, if she was someone else in the class. Fifteen minutes late was pushing it for anyone, but Jovie was almost always early to class, even if she despised it. So, the fact that she was not there was bothering Adrian. Something about it just felt wrong.

A bit lost in thought, he was caught off-guard when Jovie, panting, with snow clinging to her jacket and jeans, trotted up and hopped into the seat beside him.

"Where have you been?" Adrian whispered, lowering his head just a bit to make eye contact with the out-of-breath young woman.

Her face was oddly pale, and she had the strangest smile on her lips as she replied - with no hesitation, - "I just went outside to get that therianthrope out of the cage. She ran off - she didn't even try and hurt me. Isn't that insane? I felt like she'd at least try."

It took a few moments for Adrian to comprehend the information, but when he did, his eyes flew open wide. "What the _hell_ , Jovie?" he demanded, quickly understanding the full weight of the situation. "They'll kill you for something like that. It's basically treasonous."

"I know," she responded, placing one hand on her chest to help still her heart. "I just... felt something when I touched her earlier. It's hard to describe. All the teachers say therianthropes aren't sentient beings. That - y'know - they're almost like fruits, or vegetables. That they don't have any thoughts or soul or feelings. But I think they're wrong."

Adrian scrubbed one hand down his face in exasperation. "You just risked your life on an impulse?" Obviously, all the teachers were wrong. Adrian knew, for a fact, that he himself was very sentient. He'd heard all his life that therianthropes weren't like humans - that they were soulless.

Yet, here he - a therianthrope - was, in college with thousands of other totally human students.

"I guess I did." Jovie shrugged, as though it really didn't matter. "But I did the right thing, Adrian."

She did, Adrian had to admit. He'd wanted to run down there and get that poor little therianthrope out of the cage the very moment Dr. Price had brought her in. Adrian just hadn't had the guts, but Jovie did. And that was really admirable. However, instead of voicing his real thoughts, Adrian snorted. "You're insane. You know that, don't you?"

"I might be," she told him confidently, then dropped a wink. "But now that you know what I did, you're officially my accomplice. What do you think about that, huh?"

Jovie meant for her jab to be funny, but the realization hit Adrian like a ton of bricks and made his blood run cold.

 _Crap._

That certainly threw a wrench into his "totally normal life" plan.

* * *

 **([** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 _June 23rd, 2312  
8:56pm  
Casey_

* * *

As it would happen, Casey had not been able to get out of the city the day prior. Seattle was huge, with winding streets and more people than Casey could've pictured. Her travelling had been slow-going, as she was trying hard to get through the city without being seen. She'd been sticking to the shadows and back alleys, and hadn't even started to really move about until nightfall. She couldn't even imagine what would happen if any of the citizens spotted her; it would be chaotic, to say the least.

Currently, she was lost. Hopelessly lost, in fact. She was lost, and hungry, and thirsty, and she couldn't get this freaking muzzle off of her face. She'd spent a good two hours just trying to push and pull and tug on the muzzle, but nothing she did would work. It was really starting to stress her out.

She was about ninety-five percent sure she'd been down this alley before, but then, everything looked the same here. It was terrifying, and she had no idea what to do.

Panting heavily, Casey pressed her flank into the wall to her right and shivered slightly from the chill in the air. She needed a rest, she needed to get out of this snow, and she needed to be able to open her mouth.

Steeling herself, she forced her paws to work and continued down the alley, crouched low to the ground and trembling a bit from the cold and fear that she couldn't quite shake. Every now and again, she'd see a human walking up ahead, or hear talking through the walls of the buildings to either side of her, and it did nothing to help her calm down.

A car's panic alarm went off across the street, both distracting Casey and preventing her from being able to hear around the corner ahead. She went around the bend and bumped her nose into something soft and warm.

Casey turned her gaze upward and... didn't have to look very far. In front of her was a very tiny human child, about six or seven years old, with a shock of curly blond hair and sweet brown eyes. The child's mouth was open in surprise, and Casey squeezed her eyes shut and tensed, ready to run if he were about to scream for someone to come help him.

But he didn't. Instead of screaming, the child instead began to laugh. Casey's eyes flew open when two tiny hands found their way behind her ears and started scratching - a little roughly, to be honest. But still, it was so much better than what she'd been expecting.

"Doggy!" the boy squealed happily, and Casey tipped her head in confusion, wondering how the kid even knew that word. The boy's hands traveled around to her muzzle and he frowned angrily. "Somebody mean got you. That's okay; we can fix it. My daddy loves animals," he chirped and turned before heading back down the alley the way he'd come. When Casey didn't move, he turned and put his hands on his little hips. "C'mon, doggy!" he commanded sternly.

This time, Casey followed. It was probably a bad idea, but she was never accused of being super great with ideas, anyway.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination - a tall, gothic-looking building with boards nailed across the windows and a cracked wooden door. The boy opened it and let Casey inside the house. The instant warmth was wonderful.

"Let's get that nasty thingy offa' you," the boy stated, heading into the small kitchen area and fiddling around in a drawer until he pulled out a huge butcher's knife.

Casey swallowed hard as the kid approached her, but allowed him to slide the knife in between the leather of the muzzle and the base of her skull.

The boy carved at the contraption meticulously until it snapped and Casey felt instantaneous relief. When the muzzle fell to the floor, she transformed into her human form immediately - she really didn't care about the consequences. It felt so good to be able to switch back.

"Ooh!" the boy chirped, his brown eyes round in awe. "You're not an animal, hunh? Daddy loves ther-i-en-throats, too!"

Casey raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Does he?" she croaked, her mouth and throat unbelievably dry.

The boy nodded with great enthusiasm. "Mhm! He takes good care of a whole buncha' you guys down-the-stairs, so that the gov-ament peoples can't find you."

"Huh," she responded, and blinked in surprise when the boy ran to one of the cupboards to get her a glass. He filled it up with water from the tap and brought it back to her. She took it and drank the entire thing greedily, soothing her dry throat. "Thank you."

The boy gave her an award-winning smile. "My name's Alaric," he told her and extended one small hand for her to shake. Casey smiled in return and reciprocated the handshake. "What's your name, ther-i-en-throat lady?"

"Casey," she told him. "You said your daddy keeps a bunch of other therianthropes downstairs?"

"He sure does!" Alaric informed her. "He keeps 'em nice and safe and warm and gives them food and places to go to sleep. Daddy loves ther-i-en-throats. I bet he'd take care of you, too!"

Casey relaxed fractionally and took a deep breath. "Can you take me to meet the other therianthropes, Alaric?" she inquired, and Alaric nodded eagerly.

"Sure I can! Come on," he told her before taking off at a run around the corner. Casey trotted after him, and was surprised to find the boy pulling an oriental rug up off the dusty hardwood floor.

She was even more surprised to see a circular metal object - what looked like a manhole cover - underneath it.

Alaric pulled and tugged at the metal thing until it came loose, and it opened into a gaping, dark abyss. It really did look like a manhole now - there were even tiny, metal steps leading down into the darkness.

The little blond boy started to clamber down the little footholds. Casey once again followed.

"We can't tell anybodies about this place," Alaric told her very seriously as they reached the bottom of the pit. Casey's feet landed on hard concrete, and she was suddenly very aware that the scents of several dozen other individuals was present all around them. "Gotta keep it a secret."

"My lips are sealed," Casey informed him, just as seriously.

Alaric seemed pleased with her response, and began to lead her down the tunnel.

As they walked, Casey found that she could hear noises coming from up ahead - it sounded like cheering, coupled with shouting, and then with roaring.

Casey felt apprehension creep up her spine.

They had to walk for a minute or so before Casey could see anyone else, but suddenly, they turned a corner and there was a massive crowd at the end of the tunnel, all gathered with their backs to Casey and Alaric. It seemed that their attention was totally captured by something else.

The roaring grew louder, and Casey could smell blood.

She bolted forward, slipped her way through the crowd, and slammed her hands against a metal bar set at the top of a thigh-high wall, which was set there in order to keep the onlookers from falling into the deep pit with the creatures below.

Casey had never seen anything like this.

Down in the pit, which was illuminated and filled with sand at the bottom, a pair of large animals prowled around one another. One, a wild boar, was larger and more terrifying, and the smaller was a jaguar. Both animals were bleeding and battered, but the jaguar looked worse for wear. Casey was shocked to see that the big cat only had three legs; its right hind leg was missing, and it looked like that was where the boar was focusing most of its attacks.

Casey could see the prosthetic leg laying halfway across the pit.

Suddenly, the boar snarled and sprinted in at the jaguar, ramming its head into the feline's side and sending him sprawling across the sand, leaving a smear of blood in his wake.

The jaguar got to his feet and shook his head, but he was off-balance and the boar advanced again. It bit down hard on the jaguar's shoulder, and the large cat made a distressed, low-pitched noise of pain.

The onlookers cheered feverishly.

At that point, Alaric had reached Casey's side and smiled up at her. "See the ther-i-en-throats? They fight for Daddy and Daddy lets 'em stay down here." He giggled. "You can stay here, too, if you wanna."

Casey felt violently ill. _Those are therianthropes._

The boar released the jaguar's shoulder and the jaguar took a swipe at it, but missed. The pig squealed and bowled the cat over once more before approaching the jaguar as he struggled to get to his three feet.

"He's going to die!" Casey snapped at Alaric, her heart racing. "They've got to stop it!"

Alaric gave her a weird look. "That's the point, silly. One of 'em's gotta die. That way, everybody can make money and there'll always be room in the cages afterwards."

In truth, Casey had known that from the moment she'd ran up to the pit, but hearing it aloud - from the mouth of a small, innocent child, no less - brought a whole different type of horror to the situation. It was sick, twisted, evil...

Somebody had to do something, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be any of the depraved men and women gathered around them.

Casey did the only thing that she could think of, in the heat of the moment.

She jumped in.

* * *

 **([** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 _June 23rd, 2312  
11:23pm  
Quentin  
_

* * *

This was not the way he had expected to die.

In a world like the one they lived in, death was inevitable. Heck, most humans nowadays didn't even live to see forty.

Most therianthropes were lucky to see twenty.

Q hadn't reached twenty just yet, and he wasn't quite sure he was ready to go. Especially not like this, in a pit with some repulsive boar, and a crowd of even more repulsive pigs cheering from the sidelines. It was just so undignified, so horrific and disgusting and demeaning. He'd rather be shot, or be poisoned, or starve, or drown...

Almost anything would be better than this.

What was worse was the fact that his body would just be dumped out like trash, or fed to the actual animals that the humans running this establishment kept alongside the therianthropes.

He didn't want to die in such a pointless, useless way.

The only bright side to the situation was that Quentin's mother wasn't around to witness this. He hoped that she would be able to live the rest of her life in blissful ignorance, unknowing of the fate of her son. A fate that she had tried so hard to protect him from.

Quentin felt the boar's breath on his neck as it prepared to bite down. It was rancid.

Yes, he was about to die, laying in a useless heap of sand and his own blood, with a pig's jaws around his throat.

He closed his eyes and waited for death; whatever that would bring.

Suddenly, the breath vanished and the crowd started to scream, half in delight and the other half in dismay. Something snarled, the boar squealed, and Quentin's eyes shot open again. The sight that greeted him was... a bit odd, to say the least.

There, placed firmly between himself and the boar, was a small orange-and-tan dog, with her hackles raised and tail in the air. Her lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl, and her ears were pressed back against her head. The boar was looming over her; it was obviously much bigger than she was. Heck, it was bigger than Quentin, and he was more than three times that dog's size.

The boar swung its head and nearly caught the dog's shoulder with its tusk, but the dog had the advantage of speed and agility. She ducked, dodged, and darted in between the boar's front legs. She weaved around underneath it and set it off balance a bit, and the boar shifted and tilted as it tried to reach her.

Quentin watched as the dog nipped at the boar's back legs and received a sharp kick to the flank for it. The dog yelped and tumbled to one side, her paws scrabbling on the sand to try and slow herself down. She failed and ended up rolling hard toward the middle of the ring.

The boar huffed and shook its now-bleeding leg. Scarlet splashed onto the sand beneath it as it limped toward the dog. Quentin had actually done some good damage on the boar, he noticed - his claw marks were scored down the brown creature's sides and shoulders, and nearly as much of the congealing red liquid on the sand was the boar's.

It really didn't have much fight left in it.

Forcing himself to his three remaining legs - of course, it was his luck that the jerry-rigged prosthetic that the people here had given him had fallen off early on in the fight - Quentin lunged at the boar before it could sink its teeth into the dog's stomach.

His front claws met the boar's haunches and it squealed in pain, bucking to try and get him off.

Unfortunately, he did not have a good enough grip on the creature, and he found himself on the sandy floor of the pit once again.

This time, though, the boar did not even have time to move before the dog was on it again, nipping and barking as she tried to bring its attention off of Quentin and onto herself.

Why she would want to do that, Q would never know, but she was certainly doing it.

The dog's teeth met the boar's weakest leg, and the massive brown creature hit the floor with a moaning bellow.

Not five seconds later, it morphed into its human form - a huge, pudgy man with gray-brown hair and ripped jeans. He tried to sit up, but he could not - Quentin could see from his position that the man was clearly dying.

Apparently, so could the dog. She had switched to her human form and dropped to her knees beside the massive man - he still dwarfed her, even in human form.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," the girl babbled, her golden-brown eyes wide and tears streaking down her dirty cheeks. Her hands hovered hesitantly over the boar therianthrope's body, trying to find a way that she could assist him. "I just wanted to get you to stop fighting; I couldn't just stand there. I-I-" she stammered, and the boar man attempted to offer her a smile.

"Don't do that. You didn't put us in here, kid," he grunted, voice gruff and gritty. He was breathing hard between each word, but he was no longer fighting for breath. "You did what you could. Hell, you did more than you should've."

Then, his eyes clouded and his chest stilled, and he was gone.

There was a resounding silence, and then the crowd was booing hysterically, demanding for more gore and bloodshed.

"That's enough; that's _enough_!" called the voice over the loudspeaker. "Shut _up_ , you bastards! Fight's over! Go home!"

Reluctantly, the onlookers silenced and began to disperse at a snail's pace. Quentin transformed back into his human form and grunted in pain, feeling the extent of his injuries now that his adrenaline was no longer pumping through his veins.

The younger therianthrope either heard him or saw him move, because she hastily wiped at her freckled cheeks to rid them of tears before getting to her feet and stumbling over to him.

"Y-you're really hurt," she stuttered, her small body shaking so hard that Q was surprised she was still on her feet. "Please don't move."

Quentin looked away and set his jaw stubbornly. "I'm fine," he grunted, though not as rudely as he might have if she had not just saved his life. Still, he did not want her pity, and it set that familiar spark of pride aflame in his chest. "You should take care of yourself instead. You're bleeding, in case you hadn't noticed."

The ginger looked down and placed a hand on her side, where blood was seeping through her sweater. She pulled her shirt up and hissed through gritted teeth when she saw the bruised and split skin from where the boar had kicked her.

There were scars decorating the pale skin on her stomach.

Quentin jumped slightly when the door at the opposite end of the pit opened and a few men stepped in, armed with guns and prepared to escort him - and the dog therianthrope, more than likely - to their cages.

One was carrying the prosthetic leg for his human form - the better one that had been designed by an actual doctor.

The girl jumped and growled at the people, but she was shaking and her body language gave off fear rather than aggression. She wasn't going to hurt these humans.

"Chill out," he informed her, rolling his eyes. "They're not going to hurt you. Just don't fight them."

Surprisingly, she obeyed, and went willingly with them. Quentin fastened his prosthetic leg on and followed, and soon, they were in the cages that were set up in the back room.

Cages was actually the wrong term. These were more like jail cells. There was a small mattress on the floor, and a toilet and sink in the corners. Each cell was blocked off with iron bars.

Quentin settled himself down on his mattress and the medic headed in to patch him up. They did the same thing for the dog therianthrope and put her in the cell between Quentin's and a very reclusive thylacine therianthrope.

The small, red-haired girl limped over and curled up on her mattress, on her stomach.

A few moments passed by before the girl sniffled and spoke up.

"My name's Casey."

Figuring that the words were directed at him, and though the question was not asked, Quentin decided to answer her.

"Quentin. I'm Quentin."

* * *

 **([** To Be Human **])**

* * *

 **An -** _Hey, guys! I didn't expect to have this chapter done tonight, but here it is! It's a decent length, I think - almost four thousand words._

 _I hope I did well with Quentin and Adrian! I love these two. In fact, I love all the characters I've received._

 _Don't panic if your character doesn't show up for a while - I've got a whole bunch of 'em to introduce, and they'll all have their chance to shine._

 _I'm sorry for closing the SYOC to main characters a couple of days early. The response I got for this fic was so much more than I expected, and I got so many amazing characters from so many amazing people, so please don't take it personally if I don't use your character as a main. I plan on using a lot of them for side characters and some for recurring roles._

 _So, let me know what you think! Also, if I haven't PMed you back yet, please be patient with me. You can PM me again to remind me to reply to you, because I get overwhelmed sometimes and forget to respond._

 _Anyway, I think that's it c: Tell me if I did something wrong, or something right, or if you have any story ideas, etc._

 _Oh, and if anyone has the ability to make a cover for this story, please let me know! I think we need a good cover c:_

 _God bless you guys!_

 _Love,_

 _Snowy_


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